The Final Cycle:Reclamation
by ForsakenSpartan
Summary: Humanity has spent Eons across the stars, making allies, friends and enemies... Yet to our neighbors we aren't much as part of an age-old Galactic Community. When First Contact with a hostile alien group bent on destroying everyone they consider 'unworthy' hits our Galaxy, it is our turn to respond. The Final Cycle has begun, and it will be a long and bloody one. (Very AU)
1. Chapter 1:First Contact

**AN:This is EliteOP speaking from his Secondary account to all followers and friends! I thank you all for your continued support, and do not worry! I am NOT Switching accounts and leaving my big stories unfinished! This is my first attempt at something of a big-ass AU of three things squashed together, with a single trilogy on this account until further notice! Please Enjoy and leave reviews, and to my new fans, welcome! I present to thee...**

 **The Final Cycle Book 1:Reclamation**

 ** _"Two possibilities exist:Either we're alone in the Universe or we're not. Both are equally terrifying."-Arthur C. Clarke_**

 **Chapter 1:First Contact  
** **UNSC _Barbarossa_ HALCYON-CLASS CRUISER,  
01/MAY/2552  
(STANDARD UNSC MILITARY CALENDAR)  
** **LOW-ORBIT ABOVE ICE PLANET HOTH  
** **HOTH SYSTEM, REPUBLIC-CONTROLLED SPACE  
FAR RIM  
**

Through the looking glass glass of the Halcyon-Class UNSC Vessel, the sight of the massive ice-planet below dwarfed the surrounding ships of the conjoined Republic-UNSC Defense force stationed above it. UNSC Halcyon-classes, along with Paris-classes and other types of UNSC Frigates stood side-by-side with the massive Venators, the arrowhead ships with indentures for the side hangars and a red stripe down the middle, and the other Republic combat vessels. The Republic and UNSC Had set up communications upon first encounter in 2152, a long 400 years ago, when humanity first discovered the technology named Slipstream space, allowing them to travel beyond their own star. The humans had joined a large community back when they were only known as the Earth Colonial Alliance, bearing blue-and-white color schemes and a small badge. Now, the UNSC was EarthGov's biggest military, a renewed Alliance.

The 22-year-old Commander David Anderson walked onto the _Barbarossa'_ s bridge, passing by saluting ensigns and Marines that dotted the place. The dark-skinned man walked past the deepened portion of the bridge, where UNSC Technicians and Cartographers worked on mapping their current location, while on the stations around the forward part of the bridge were the communication officers and Sensor crews, continuously tapping information and commands into their consoles for coordination with the Republic fleets AND between themselves. Anderson took a step up to the forward command console, where a 2D holographic display of the Space around them showed their allied ships, and also... Where Captain Jacob Keyes resided, his silver-colored crew-cut hair and his dress-code dark-grey and black uniform with his badges being the clear-cut show of who he was. Keyes was smoking from his pipe. He took a deep breath and turned toward his XO, who snapped-to, receiving a salute and a smile from the Captain.

"Took ya longer than usual to get here, Anderson," Smirked the captain, looking over the man in blue commander's uniform walk beside him. "What happen, did you get stuck in traffic?" He continued, turning back to the holo-screen ahead. He slowly tapped on the transparent glass, sliding his finger around as to zoom in and check the status of the other UNSC Ships in the area. Anderson sighed, then looked at his tablet, typing two lines in, then looking past the gunners sitting in their cradles, ahead at the ship's glass-covered prow observation deck. For him, it was nauseating to sit in one of those cradles, but for the two boys up ahead, it was relaxation from what they usually had to endure. Anderson turned his eyes to the holomap.

"Some of our guys held me back to ask about what the hell we're expecting with a fleet of 500 ships above an ice-covered planet like Hoth." Stated Anderson. The man pursed his lips as the lines he had wrote onto his tablet didn't work and the screen flashed a dark shade of red twice. "The Republic's guys are getting anxious about this too. Hell, I got a collect call from General Skywalker and Admiral Tarkin asking what we're waiting for down here." The man straightened his collar as a feeling of big unease snuck up on him, a sense of choking. The Captain sighed and took another deep puff from his old acacia wood pipe, then looked ahead and shrugged.

"ONI said our probes detected something heading this way in Slipstream... Also, one of their Prowlers went missing here." Stated the man, examining his pipe for anything odd. He held it between his right-hand fingers and looked at the console. "And you know NavSpecWar ops aren't playing."

Anderson sighed deeply and tilted his head back, looking up at the metallic ceiling of the vessel's bridge. "I know all too well, captain." He muttered, lowering his gaze toward the star-spangled darkness ahead. For many, that sight would've meant peace, calm, but for Anderson and Keyes, it meant their workplace, and unknown odds after every slipspace jump. Basically, the most thrilling job up-to-date came to Anderson and his fellow crewmen. It actually made him crack a tiny smile behind his all-serious acting aboard the ship just thinking about it.

"Captain, commander." Stated an ensign, walking on-deck and snapping a crisp salute at both of them, which they returned, allowing the soldier to settle down and report. "Admiral Piett of the RVS _Valiant_ and her fleets is hailing us for video-communications. Shall I patch him through to your Vid sir?"

"Go ahead, ensign Pressly." Keyes stated, arranging his wristbands and uniform. The two turned toward the Holo-com ahead, arms behind their backs. Ahead of them, on the holo-pad, materialized the bridge of a Republican Venator-class Cruiser, along with a very young, but also very rugged face, presenting battle scars on his face from the earlier campaigns he had fought through. This man was Fleet Admiral Firmus Piett. A 34-year-old fleet admiral of the Republic and a Very proeminent one at that. The youngest man to lead a fleet into victory against the Geth excursions out of the Perseus Veil, and having won against a Fleet of the Mechs, some said. Man was like a living legend. Keyes and Anderson snapped-to, receiving a salute from the Admiral. The man nodded, then took off his white cap, revealing his brown hair in a crew-cut and the two vets settled down.

" _Captain, Commander. It is good to see your faces out of all of the UNSC's again. I must say, a hero of the Terran War against the Turians and his young friend and commander are quite a welcome sight to be seen."_ Stated the admiral, chest out so his insignias and medals could be seen, shining in all their trivial might. " _I trust in Admiral Cole's judgement, but I must question. What are we doing in the Far Rim, defending an Ice Planet? Are we expecting Global Warming to hit it and we're here to prevent floods?"_

Anderson grinned and snickered at the little joke Piett had made, hiding his smile behind his tablet. Keyes grinned himself and shook his head. "Our probes saw something in the area and a cargo ship went missing by here a few days ago. A very well-defended Cargo Ship, carrying weapons and ammo for the Clone Army from Misriah Armories on Mars to all war theaters." He lied, checking his ancient Rolex wristwatch.

" _Ah, yes, Chancellor Esheel's little rearmament plan for the Republic."_ Stated Piett with a light laugh. " _Your weapons have proven quite effective so far, and in destroying the Confederacy's armed forces, your armies and their gear were a great deal of help. Both good Generals and good Soldiers make an army, a fleet is the Admirals, Ships and Crew of said craft, so I have nothing to comment toward the UNSC's men and women. I respect all of you and your compatriots highly, but still..."_

Keyes tilted his head forward in approval, then took a deep breath and exhaled. "If what that 'still' meant was 'What are we expecting?', Insurgents at best, Admiral. Them or the bloody batarian pirates in the area. I mean, the little skirmishes the Republic's had with the bastards weren't trickery or bad calls. The bastards charged you head-on if I remember correctly, openly declaring war during the Citadel Council meeting back in 2542, while we still had our little friendly Brawl with the Turians."

Piett nodded his approval, then turned toward one of his soldiers, from which he received a tablet. He smiled and laughed. making Keyes shoot a questioning glare toward Anderson, who shrugged.

" _Looks like another hostile fleet fell. Blood Pack fleet in the Carrack System. You have no idea how long my boys have been hunting those bastards down."_

Keyes snickered, then turned his head toward an Ensign, who ran toward the scared. The man was half-breathing, half-choking on air when Anderson and Keyes turned toward him. The boy straightened up and looked at the pair, then inhaled deeply and said it.

"Captain, Commander. We have an incoming fleet on approach vector, dead-ahead. Massive Slipspace signatures, and hundreds of'em!"

Keyes turned toward Piett, who was already ordering combat preps. His ship had already went to red alert, and by Keyes' knowledge of how the man worked, the entire fleet he brought with him were already pointing their guns forward. Piet nodded toward the captain, and without a single word, shut the Com-link off. Keyes looked toward Anderson, who was already typing a communique toward UNSC High-com, and knowing him, he would not let up until a full UNSC Support Fleet jumped there. Keyes cued the Ship's PA and leaned into the Mic.

"To all UNSC Personnel aboard the _Barbarossa._ We have entered Red Alert. All men to battle stations, repeat, BATTLE STATIONS. This is NOT a drill. We have an oncoming fleet of unknowns headed for us! All hands, _RED ALERT_!" Barked Keyes into the microphone. He turned his gaze toward Anderson. "Get to your seat, Anderson. Battle coordination isn't done on its own."

"Aye." Saluted the Commander. He turned and ran for his post. The man settled down in the 'Pit' with the rest of his colleagues and got himself to his post.

Keyes looked ahead, awaiting for the fleet to just appear.

Out ahead of the main fleet, in the gravity well of the planet, space distorted and lightning bolts shot out, then blue wormholes formed, by the hundred. Out of them, emerged the very sleek, bulbous hulls colored bright purple, and some silver and black, of some very big ships, the smallest one the size of a UNSC Thanatos-class cruiser. The biggest one of them was a gigantic thing looking like a mythological sea monster from Earth folklore. It sized thirty times that of a Venator, and a lot bigger than the UNSC Ships in all senses, with a frontal hull portion that looked like it was a head, linked by one thin line.

"Sweet mother of God..." Whispered Keyes. "TARGET SOLUTION WITH THE MAC CANNON?!"

"Sir, they're still too far out!" Stated one of the gunners, furiously tapping commands into the system. "They have shields sir! Initial scans reveal Tech 5 Quantum Shield levels!"

"Tech 5, quantum?" Demanded Anderson, scared out of his mind. "That's more than even the Republic has! And more than we're developing! Captain?!"

"SIR! THEY'RE CHARGING WEAPONS! I'M DETECTING VENTRAL PLASMA GUNS AND LASER POINT-DEFENSE ON ALL SHIPS! THEY'D TEAR US APART!" Screamed the sensor officer. "Their guns at 97% sir... 99%... 100%... Sir... They're ready to fire on us..." Keyes tapped three quick commands and started a fleetwide broadcast, so that the Republic may hear him as well. He breathed in, looked at the Mic cue in and finally yelled.

"This is Captain Keyes to the Hoth Defense Fleet! DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT CLOSE DISTANCE WITH THOSE BOGEYS! They have Laser point-defense and plasma cannons, and they would tear our vessels apart if we even tried to! I repeat, hold to this Distance! If they start closing in, open fire with all you've got!' He shut down the Mic then turned toward his sensor officer. "Number of ships?!"

The ensign didn't say a word, angering Keyes slightly, up to the point the man's face was a dark shade of red, and he slammed his hand into his console. "Ensign Ross, NUMBER OF SHIPS?!"

"Sir..." The Ensign whimpered, staring over his data over and over. "Over a thousand ships..."

Keyes' heart skipped a beat at those news. They were outnumbered 2-1, and it was not a good time to be captaining aboard a UNSC Vessel, much less a republic one. Keyes knew he and his fleet had to do this... They had to... He looked over the bridge one last time, at the crewmen, and each glance back meant the exact same answer for him from their scared, yet determined faces. They had to close distance.

"CAPTAIN! LASER LANCES!" Screamed another ensign. "PULSE SHOTS DIRECTLY OFF OUR PROW, DEAD AHEAD!"

Keyes stopped dead, hearing that, and looked at shots streak in at a Councilor-class vessel the Republic sent out to meet up. The shots gutted straight through the small craft, boiling its shields, then its guns, and then its hull away. The vessel detonated in a bright orange blaze, sending dead bodies and hull pieces, along with Shaw-Fujikawa drive pieces floating out int othe space around the vessels. Half the republic fleet had powered their weapons and Keyes felt the tension in the air.

He cued his ship-wide PA system again, probably for the last time and spoke as calmly as his fast-beating heart allowed him to. "Attention, crew of the _Barbarossa_! My good men and women of the UNSC! We are about to engage and close distance between us and the unidentified fleet! They have charged their weapons and are about to fire on us, without so much as a hail, and I cannot allow a full fleet of UNSC and Republic ships to fall to their hands..." He breathed out deeply and leaned in on his mic, mor determined than ever. "So hear this! We close distance NOW! ALL HANDS BRACE FOR CLOSE ENGAGEMENT! AND MAY GOD BE WITH US!"

The man walked down toward Anderson, grabbing him by the shoulders and looking him in the eye. He pulled him to the top of the bridge and pointed forward at the enemy fleet. Anderson nodded quietly and looked at that massive fleet one last time, then sighed deeply. "You want me to deploy with UNSC and Republic ground forces on Hoth?"

Keyes nodded.

"I'm on it, captain. I'm taking Sergeants Belladonna, Sanders and Forge, along with their marine squads, sir. Staff Officer Mendez can handle battle coordination." He stated, crossing his arms. Keyes nodded, then received a tablet from one of his Ensigns. The entire fleet was moving in alongside them. "Huh... Guess if we go down, we all go down together..." Keyes smirked, tapping a few lines on it. The ship had closed distance enough now as the Planet of Hoth started disappearing from their viewscreens, and that meant the MAC Could fire... And it did. A thundering roar shook the ship as the first superheated Magnetic-launched ferrous slug hurried toward its intended target at high speed. The shot cut straight through the shields of one of the smaller vessels, probable Corvettes, tearing it in half. A perfect shot. The crew couldn't cheer as they already prepped their second shot and started targeting. Anderson turned toward Keyes, grinned and nodded, then rushed toward the armory without another word.

The main batteries of the UNSC cruiser opened up, and Turbolaser fire, alongside more MAC shots, Anti-ship cannons and plasma, started streaking to and fro as a fleet battle of epic proportions started above Hoth. Fighters were launched to intercept very UFO-looking alien strike craft, with shielding, and shooting them out of their flight, but not before losing three of their own trying to take it down. Rockets flew, lasers hit the shields of the Republic Venators and many more weapons started shooting across. An enemy ship's shields flared bright orange after a direct barrage from a Venator-class, but didn't fall, and the ship's starboard plasma batteries and lasers flashed a dull red, then a bright orange, and finally, a burning white, all in the span of a second, then plasma and laser erupted from their sides, directly hitting the Venator and tearing its shields apart. As the last shots impacted, they melted through the ship's hull, and a laser lance streaked straight into the ship's bridge, destroying the entire vessel with well-placed shots. It split in half, its engines flickering and finally dying out.

In the hangar bay of the _Barbarossa_ , Anderson and his picked sergeants, along with their crews and dropships, began deployment. The first pelican flew out of the hangar bay while fiters still couldn't get to them, shots still streaking across and around their heat-shielded hulls as the second and third pelican took off and formed up in a Vee. One of the Pelicans was carrying a combat Warthog, and the first things they noticed were the other dropships moving in around them, both republic LAATs and UNSC Pelicans carrying combat vehicles and supply gear.

* * *

 **Hoth, in-atmosphere. On approach vector to Common UNSC-Republic Research base, nicknamed 'Diode'**

The many drop ships dove into the Ice Planet's atmosphere, and re-entry heat hit them. As the ships dove deeper and deeper down, the fires that had been heating them up died down, and up when they reached ground level, firing their thrusters for a safe touchdown, they saw a snowstorm had hit. Snow around the camouflage craft flew off around in swarms as the vessels slowly touched down, at the base of a mountain, and the squads already deployed and started digging trenches around it. The place already had a research base built with a hangar dug inside the mountain range along with bunkers and several fallout shelters across the place, and the pilots wasted no time flying their gunships within the base's small hangar so they would not freeze their gear.

Anderson walked into the Research outpost's command room, where some civilians were discussing what was going on with troopers and his Sergeants. He walked toward Belladonna, who smiled and extended her hand toward the man. He shook it, relaxed.

"So. Sitch's got pretty aggravating, eh, Commander?" Inquired the Sergeant as they took a walk toward Sergeant Kahlee Sanders. The woman was slowly lining up commands and data on what this base was about. Anderson stopped and leaned toward the window. He sighed.

"What the fuck did we just encounter, sarge?" Inquired the man, turning toward Belladonna, who was joined by Sanders.

"Just another alien race whose ass we're probably gonna kick." Smirked Sanders, taking her hood and helmet off, revealing short-to-the-shoulders blonde hair and blue eyes. "Hell, we've faced worse when fighting Batarian raiders, haven't we?"

"Actually, Kahlee, we haven't." Corrected Forge, walking next to the girls. He shook his head. "We've taken the Batarians down with ease... This. This here's a first contact with a hostile race."

"And, what's wrong with that?" Inquired Kahlee with a grin. "Ya afraid we're gonna get our butts handed to us, cuz? We beat back a Hegemony fleet on Harmony in '49. Who's to say we won't kick these bastards out?"

"That was deeper within our own territory, and the bastards provoked the whole of the UNSC. Look at us. We're not getting our seat in the Citadel Council and Republic Council yet. Which basically translates to how humanity doesn't matter worth half-a-shit to the rest of the Galaxy." Stated Belladonna, crossing her arms. "Hell, the Turians still hate us for kicking their ass during the First Contact War when the Asari stepped in to save their butts."

"Aww, don't be so upset, Maria. Or should we call ya Kitty-kat?" Snickered Kahlee again, shaking her head as she saw Belladonna remove her helmet and mouth cover, to reveal raven hair, genetically-added cat ears and amber eyes. Kahlee grinned. "We're UNSC Marine Corps. Our big green style, CANNOT be defeated!"

"Kahlee, you were a fucking egghead prior to this, working with your assistant on some odd techs like the forerunners' ancient stuff around our space. You even shot a gun since basic?" Stated Belladonna, crossing her arms.

"I'll have you know I did." Stated Kahlee. The two girls were just about ready to jump and yank hairs with each other.

Captain Rex of the 501st clone brigade walked toward the Commander and Sergeants, receiving salutes from all of them. The clone elite nodded, then looked at each one of them.

"You UNSC bicker a lot among each other." Said the soldier, crossing his arms. Anderson grinned and nodded his head in a relaxed manner of approval.

"Yeah, but we sure as hell work together when it's about fighting threats to our people, Rex."

"I noticed that back in '50, fighting alongside Skywalker and commander-now-captain Keyes against CIS fleets. Man was a helluva fighter." Stated Rex, looking outward. Light shone off his black HUD Glasses as he looked toward the snowy fields ahead. "I have a nasty feeling about this new fleet though. We've never met'em before, have we?"

"Nope." Stated Kahlee. "Their configs don't match anything known to either Republic, Council, CIS or UNSC Ships. Would've pulled data if it was so. Hell, any First Contact gets noted into UNSC Systems."

"Great. Into the Breach, huh?" Said the captain. "I hate not knowing what I'm fighting."

"Feeling's mutual, Rex." Stated the young Padawan of Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, sent along with the rest of the force. She walked next to Maria and smiled at the lot.

"We really don't know ANYTHING about them?" Demanded Rex. Kahlee shook her head again.

"They got Tech 5 shields and weaponry. Way beyond what we have today," Mused Ahsoka. "Huh, their ground forces must be rough if in space they destroyed a Venator by just 'staring' at it."

"I think you're asking for it, kid." Stated Rex, shooting a glance toward Ahsoka. She shrugged it off. Kahlee looked toward Anderson with worry now building up.

"Anderson, do we have an allied fleet heading toward us?" She inquired. Anderson sighed.

"Last time I checked with Keyes, one of his ensigns was calling the Third and Fifth fleets to aid us along with two more Republic fleets, though it may take them a good day or two to get to us." Answered the man, smiling at Kahlee.

"We just gotta hold out until then?" Inquired Rex. Anderson nodded.

The alarms around base blared and troopers began rushing to the armory. Kahlee looked to Anderson and the others then nodded. "Looks like their Dropships are about to hit us. Good luck y'all. See you on the field." She left for her crew, placing her helmet on her head and slinging her MA5B on her shoulder.

Everyone scrambled for their units, and Anderson was no different. He grabbed his combat gear from his chair that he had occupied when he arrived within the base, including his favored M8 Avenger assault rifle that the Citadel Council had transferred to him, and scrambled fro one of the middle trenches. A blizzard had hit outside, reducing visibility by a lot, but Anderson could still see the UNSC SCORPION Combat tanks settled within their trenches, in white camo nets and with their cannons pointed forward, while Republic AT-TEs held point at the flattened landing pad at the top of the mountain, as a sort of artillery position, and around the hurriedly dug trenches, UNSC ARCHER Automated Triple-A Rocket batteries dotted the place, along with Republic Anti-armor T3 Blaster Cannon turrets and Anti-Air Plasma Flak cannons. Machinegun nests, gunnery bunkers and even heavy infantry with flamethrowers(Which worked surprisingly well in the cold) filled the trenches, while UNSC Marines in winter armor, along with ODSTs from the 101st had their weapons level straight ahead. MA5Bs, MA37Ks, Sparrowhawk rocket launchers, M6 Magnums. Every weapon available in the UNSC arsenals was trained ahead, while the Clones had their DC15s and DC17s, and even DLT17s ready to fire at the oncoming onslaught.

It filled Anderson with both pride and dread to see this many men and women armed and ready to kill any target ahead... And out of the misty and snowy storm, emerged sleek purple hulls, Anti-Grav systems and heavy weaponry on them. Anti-air opened up on them, blowing two dropships that looked like forks. Their charred hulls landed on top of an unoccupied forward trench, spilling dark-red and purple fire from the cracks within their hull. This was it. First Contact on the ground, and it had Anderson on the edge as he levelled his rifle for the dropships that were making it through the curtain of Triple-A hitting around them.

"Here they come..." Muttered the man, cocking the Avenger.


	2. Chapter 2:Hell on Hoth

**AN:Sorry this is so short. Had littearly little-to-no time to do it today. It is a bit more combat-focused. Enjoy!**

Gunfire. All Anderson and his friends could hear around them was gunfire as more and more alien soldiers charged in. The place was under constant fire from plasma guns and artillery, and Anderson could only wonder why the hell did they shoot back? The aliens had them outgunned and outmanned in every way, and when the conflict started, the entire fleet could've just turned tail and run after a quick evac, but instead, everyone chose to stay and fight... It wasn't in his blood to retreat, that's why he stood behind, but for the first time, he questioned his guts upon everything else that was shooting left and right around him.

A clone commando ran next to Anderson, blaster swung over the trench's side as he opened fire with it. The clone's Katarn-class armor was painted orange, with small killcounts carved into the helmet's deepened part, and the visor shone bright blue in the middle of the storm. The soldier was Delta-38, the well know Delta Leader, or 'Boss' as his squadmates had nicknamed him. Anderson hid behind cover and reloaded his Avenger, then looked at the commando settle down next to him and make two hand-signals, from which his other 2 team mates emerged. One with a green-painted armor, and the other with golden, the 2 with different backpacks. Scorch-63 and Fixer-40

"Commander Anderson!" Stated 38, hoisting his blaster up. He opened fire. "What's the status of this trench?!"

"We're getting more and more of these bastards minute by minute, and I can't quite tell why the hell they shot first!" Stated the man, turning back to firing his M8 rifle. Rounds hit the smallest units of the enemy, killing a lot of them off. Blue, shining blood dripped into the trenches before freezing cold next to the soldiers' feet. He ducked in cover, then slammed a fresh clip into the weapon and peeked up yet again.

"And I guess we can't easily clear'em out?" Inquired Scorch, loading a grenade into his launcher and taking aim. Anderson shook his head, allowing the trooper to sigh. "Of course..."

Scorch shot, the grenade flying off in the distance. An orange flash, along with a body flying toward them, nailed their exact belief. That the Grenade detonated the enemy unit. The body drifted onto the snow ahead before freezing, only this one wasn't that of a small body. It was hunchback, with split lips, and triple-jointed legs, and sported a blue armor.

"Good shot, Scorch!" Stated Fixer, giving a thumbs up. "We got more incoming!"

As the squads continued fire, ahead of them rushed more of those hunchback creatures. Alien Elite soldiers, supposedly.

"What's the status of your battleship, Anderson?! Are the captain and fleet admiral dealing with the situation up there?!" Demanded 38. Anderson nodded, then heaved his Avenger up and opened fire. A few smaller aliens fell dead-first into the snow, their blue blood turning the white wasteland into a color pallet. Another Elite rushed toward them, this one a different configuration of armor, but as deadly, with an energy blade in his hand. Sev's sniper bead off and scattered the shields of the creature, but as the others started to fire, he blocked every ounce of fire and jumped into the trench against 38, who activated the knife in his armor. The elite stabbed at the soldier, his head twisting back as he dodged the superheated blade of energy. Steam flew out of the snow below as the sword made contact and the Elite almost instantly yanked it out and attempted another stab at 38, but Anderson's gun rattled, peppering the Elite's back with bullets.

The creature turned toward the man and roared angrily, which gave 38 Enough time to jump on its back and stab it in the back of the neck with his gauntlet knives. He stabbed again and again, roaring as the creature attempted to get him off. Another knife into the back of the creature's head made it finally fall limp into the trench, allowing 38 to grab his blaster rifle and take cover, breathing heavily.

"Christ, these things are tough..." Anderson gasped, reloading his rifle. They noticed a last one headed for them, but he stopped. This one's armor was different... It was silver, with an odd, spiked shoulder pad on the right. The Elite wielded two emblazoned red swords and was ordering his, probably lower-rank elites around, alongside their little troopers. The Grunts. Anderson and the Elite commander stared eye-to-eye for about a minute, the Elite not even flinching while Anderson was panting heavily. The Elite roared upward, its four mandibles expanding as he did so. He turned toward Anderson and charged, both blades out.

"Oh, shit!" Anderson screamed, pulling out his sidearm. He opened fire with both weapons, supported by the Commandos and his friends. The Elite's blades bead off the snow, shining bright red. It scared Anderson, and as the creature jumped into the air and pinned Anderson under its foot, it stabbed at his head, him dodging left and right and gasping for air. 38 charged the Alien creature, helped by the other commandos, and pushed it away from Anderson. The man rolled over and gasped for air, then grabbed his pistol and fired two shots toward the Elite commander, them bouncing off its shields. It grabbed 38 and 40 an threw them off him, then cloaked

"Bastards have cloak?!" 40 demanded, looking around. "What the hell!"

"Form up! Defensive formation!" 38 demanded, all of them finding safe positions to take cover behind as they examined around for any trace of the elites.

...

The continuous thunder of artillery sounded off around Kahlee's position as she looked over the trenchline to the _no man's land_ , which was full of craters from bombs and burnmarks from plasma and other weaponry. She reloaded her MA5B's heat sink, then took aim and opened fire. The muzzle flash pulled snow upward as the magnetic coils in the rifle shot the bullets via Mass Effect field toward their intended target. Each round struck true, killing aliens left-and-right. She looked to Maria, who was using her sword and defending from attacks from the Elites' swords. The girl stabbed an alien right through his gut, then pulled upward, slicing the Alien's ribcage and gut in half.

"Jesus Christ..." Kahlee said, ducking in cover. Her ammo counter yet again read zero, so she slammed another heat sink into the weapon's receiver, then looked toward Maria, who jumped toward her, DMR in hand and standing up as she put three bullets into another alien.

"This is going to shit! These bastards have some heavy weaponry and a LOT of people to engage us on the ground like this!" Maria said, sitting down and reloading her DMR.

"Yeah..." Kahlee said, shivering as her breath turned into vapors ahead. "Where the HELL Are those damn MEC Troopers!" She demanded, heaving a grenade out over the lip of the trench. It landed between some aliens, shattering the line of troopers completely and impaling the Elite's shields with shrapnel. The metallic fragments bounced off, but the explosion had angered the Elite, which charged toward where Kahlee and Maria were hiding. As it made the jump over the trench to land into it, Maria sliced it in half from the groin up, splattering blood onto the snow in the trench and the grates used for walking, scaring Kahlee.

"Fuck!" The blonde swore behind her breath, unholstering her pistol and firing two rounds into the creature's head out of instinct. "THIS IS NUTS!"

"Calling XCOM platoon 5 now!" Maria said, pulling out her wireless. "COVER ME!"

"Covering!" Stated Kahlee, opening fire above the lip of the trench alongside her other marines as Maria called.

"XENO-CHARLIE! XENO-CHARLIE! THIS IS CAT FIVE! WERE'S MY GOD DAMN BACKUP!?" Maria demanded, her cat ears twitching. The girl looked up to see five FIRESTORM-class interceptors from the First Alien War, retrofitted to fight alongside ground-based units. Green Plasma streaked across the field as the five fighters made a strafing run. Two enemy tanks blew up, alongside several dozens of troops. Out behind Maria and Kahlee's platoons on the other hand, there were troopers in Mechanized Exoskeletal Cybersuits, the famed MECTs of XCOM, in the newly-created MEC-12 Magus suits. These soldiers positioned themselves and opened fire with backside-mounted artillery grenade launchers. Fifteen 44 milimeter grenades flew up into the sky, then arched down and landed between some vehicles those creatures used, blowing them apart.

From between them, emerged Psionic soldiers with MA75 Plasma-Slug assault rifles, who dove into the trenches beside Kahlee and Maria. The eldest of them, Major Anisette "Vampire" Zhang, took her helmet off, revealing silver hair and red eyes, a pale skin and a powerful grin to match. The half-chinese girl looked through the scope of her rifle and sent a plasma-enhanced bullet through an alien, shattering two more behind them with a detonation from the plasma core of the round.

"Hey, Kahlee, Marie." Stated the girl, slamming a fresh heat sink into her weapon. She grinned. "How're you two lovebirds doing?"

"Fuck you..." Kahlee smirked. "And Thank you... Heavens fucking thank you folks."

"Yeah, no problem." Stated Anisette, sitting down. "These bastards call themselves the 'Covenant'. I managed to get into one's brain and figure out a lot of things about them."

"Then YOU are briefing Lord Hood about this when we get back to Earth." Maria stated, looking up above. "IF we make it."

"Don't doubt yourselves." Stated Vampire, looking around. A plasma round vaporized one of her recruits' heads, leaving just a cauterized stump and red mist as the body fell down into the trench, making the snow around creak and break. The XCOM Fighters did a fly-by, then two of them split off from the group. Enemy fighters had arrived into the atmosphere themselves. As the saucer-with-a-tail aircraft dove in. The two fighters that split off attempted to engage, but the blue phasic plasma cannons on the enemy aircraft gutted them before they could fire off their payload of plasma. One of them blew up in a green ball, while the other one fell to the ground in a spin, then crash-landed into _no-man's land._

"Well shit... Two of our air support craft are down!" Anisette screamed, reloading her rifle. She looked to her friends and sighed, then waved back. "WE MOVE FOR THE BACKSIDE TRENCH LINE! THIS ONE'S LOST!"

"You heard the lady, soldiers!" Kahlee stated, standing up. She signaled her marines to move out. "GO!"

Maria and the others made a run for the backside trench, under cover from the remaining XCOM Aircraft, whose numbers and will were dwindling. Plasma phased with the snow, blasting apart the Aliens as the squads of XCOM and the UNSC made the run. A plasma round streaked across, shattering a soldier's ribcage. The UNSC Marine tumbled into the snow, a single shriek of pain as her blood and bone sputtered and covered the snow below her body. She stopped screaming a half-second later. Five more marines suffered similar fates as the Aliens took to the advantage of the retreating units, even with the UNSC/XCOM Cover-and-move pattern in which a squad stood back, firing toward the enemy to suppress them while the others moved to safety. That didn't work anymore. It was just getting more of theirs killed. The second trench line emerged through the blizzard, in which Captain Rex lay with his clones, their Artillery still shattering targets from the top of Diode's landing pad. The survivors jumped into the trench and instantly added their firepower to that of the Clones and Marines defending it.

"TODAY'S A GOOD DAY TO DIE, GENTLEMEN!" Stated a marine, receiving a shot right between his eyes a second later. He fell limp into the ground, brain matter with blood flowing around him.

Kahlee's eyes turned toward Rex and Ahsoka. "WHERE'S ANDERSON?!"

"We don't know!" Ahsoka said, using the force to keep the alien forces away, while holding her lightsaber with the right hand.

"Contact was severed the moment our troops began to fall back! This is a slaughter!" Answered Rex, firing with his pistols. The other Clones opened up with blaster machineguns and cannons, while the UNSC had set up Machineguns themselves. The Alien tanks had finally deployed and they opened up. Now, massive boulders of blue plasma started impacting the Republic-UNSC Positions, alongside the ice and rock wall in which Diode was placed. The plasma rounds had hit an MG nest, shattering it. Body parts flew, bullets whispered past the marines and clones, plasma sizzled the walls behind them, melting Ice. This was hell incarnate!

Kahlee looked toward Maria, who nodded.

"We HAVE To go find Anderson! He's the one who can get us the hell out of this mess!" Demanded Kahlee, reloading her rifle. She squeezed the trigger, killing more aliens.

"We know!" Stated Rex. "He was with Delta Squad! Elite Clone Commando unit! last position is the front-line trench!"

"That place is fuckin' overrun! I don't think they made it!" Stated a Marine, taking cover behind the lip of the trench.

"We'll see when we get there!" Stated Anisette, reloading her rifle. A ball of purple shimmering energy formed in her hand as her eyes flared purple, and as she pushed her hand forward, a whirlwind of purple and black energy emerged, destroying the line of aliens charging to them, while the others went insane. Several of them fell dead after shooting themselves, but the others kept advancing. The whirlwind rose the snow upward, then detonated. A vehicle that was passing through shattered, but the aliens kept on moving. With every fallen Elite, dozens more appeared, and with every dead grunt, HUNDREDS more appeared.

"We're gonna get overru-"

Detonations sounded off just as Kahlee was about to speak, and they saw Anderson and the clones dive into the trench, the former panting as if hell itself emerged and was chasing him. Kahlee picked him up and looked him in the eye.

"Anderson, Orders?!" She demanded. Anderson breathed in and looked to the hangar door for the Diode station.

"GET EVERYONE THAT'S STILL ALIVE INSIDE! ORDER ANY FIGHTER THAT CAN AID US TO DO A SCORCH RUN! ELERIUM-RAGNITE COMBO WITH NAPALM!"

"Aye!"

The entire unit stood up and began retreating, plasma impacting all around them, several Marines and clones going down, Impaled, blasted by plasma or worse. As they got to the door, the entire trench line shattered and burned bright-orange. The fighters had done their gun run and everyone was inside, safe. The leading Elite looked toward the shut door of the Diode station, clenching his four-fingered hand around his energy sword. He looked toward one of the grunts, who had survived the bomb run and grabbed him by the throat, squeezing hard. The Elite's adjutant stepped to his side and spoke.

"What are thy orders, Arbiter." the creature stated. The Arbiter looked to him and pointed at the door.

"Shatter it." The Arbiter stated, looking toward the door. "Have our Wraiths focus fire on it or bring Kig'Yarr to destroy it. By will of the Prophets, the vermin that infest this holy planet shall DIE."

"Yes, my Arbiter." Stated


	3. Chapter 3:Battlestations Hoth

**UNSC** ** _Barbarossa HALCYON CRUISER BRIDGE  
LOW ORBIT_**

Ensigns running left and right were as alarms blared on the bridge of the UNSC Cruiser. The hull shook and shuddered left and right as their MAC and their secondaries were continuously blasting away at targets. The Gunnery officer and his co-worker on the MAC were already working out kinks in the targeting systems. Fourteen targets down so far and several dozens of fighters. Keyes barked orders on and on to each man and woman at their stations, examining the continuously-updating 2D holoscreen ahead of him. Fighters and several Venators had blinked once then vanished off the screens of the ship, reducing their already-crumbling numbers to below 300 battleships out of the 500 that had been stationed above.

The Enemy fleet on the other hand, had barely lost 50 ships out of the thousands they came with, all small ships, compared to their bigger-sized ships. Keyes saw how two UNSC Paris-class frigates got torn in two by a single swipe from one of the aliens' laser lances, then another Longsword burn all ahead of him, past the glass of the Halcyon ship's bridge. Several other aircraft of theirs screamed past the ship and started firing rockets toward their targets, several of the Seraph fighters the Covenant had brought along. Keyes tapped his com and looked to see admiral Cole's face appear ahead of him, grim with worry.

"This ain't going the way we'd have hoped." Keyes said. "Their god damn battleships... They've been tearing a lot of our guys out."

" _I noticed that. Two of my Marathon-class cruisers,_ Point of No Return _and_ Caesar's Wrath, _just went down in flames in front of my eyes, captain."_ The admiral stated, looking to one of his ensigns aboard the massive Thermopylae-class attack carrier's bridge. The _New York_ was the top-of-the-line UNSC Assault Carrier. Biggest of the big. It served as a command center for the Admiral and the fleet's continuous supply of attack craft. The ship was huge, cumbersome, heavily armored, blocky, painted black and had three Frontal MAC Guns and hundreds of other small guns, each damaging as hell when firing. It was staying back with the rest of the command fleet, while the main groups fended off each attack wave sent by the strange new foe.

"What the hell do we do, then, Admiral?! We're losing craft left-and-right! We can't hold out much longer!" Demanded the captain as his ship shuddered. Another MAC Round flew off, scoring their fifteenth kill for the day, but their foe soon compensated. A Paris-class frigate and its two Longsword escorts got split in half by a single laser lance that struck them from the side. Keyes gritted his teeth, then stood up and looked ahead, tapping several commands on the screen. He shot a glance to his com officer, then barked "Call Anderson! Have him us Groundside reports!"

"On it, Captain, sir!" Stated the young coms officer Keyes looked back to his gunners.

"Are we on vacation here, you two?! Keep up the fire!"

"Captain!" The comm officer screamed. "Got a link! The Republic/UNSC Forces are retreating! They're within the walls of the Diode station, surrounded by an alien force on the thousands' side!"

"Great... Groundside ain't going any better than..." Keyes muttered, clenching his fists. "What of the Reinforcements we requested?"

"The Third, Sixth and Seventh UNSC fleets are making Headway to here via Slipspace, alongside the Republic Dreadnaught _Dauntless,_ and a single 'experimental ship." Answered the Radar ensign. "ETA till arrival, approx. 12 hours, sir."

"We'll be dead by then..." Whispered Keyes. He sighed and nodded. "KEEP UP THE PUSH AND FIRE!"

Outside, five UNSC SABRE fighters rushed past the unknowns' UFO-like craft, assisted by the modified XCOM FIRESTORMs. 30mm cannons roared as they gunned through the shields of two enemy fighters, then rockets roared away from the craft, blowing apart the two craft in a ball of purple fire and melted alloys. The squadrons split, and the leader banked hard down, diving for another target. Laser and Plasma lanced behind and in front of him as a single enemy fighter tailed behind him. He grinned, then turned again just as he was about to impact one of the alien ships' bulbous hulls. The other craft didn't turn in time and now, it slammed into the bigger ship's shields. They flared orange, then vanished as if they never were there. He was joined by a FIRESTORM, and in quick succession, five green plasma lances burned through the hull of another fighter, shattering it.

The duo dove, wiggled and sped past the bigger ships that were continuously firing Plasma lances at them, a tight turnfight. He saw a Republic ARC-170 dive for another enemy fighter, this one smaller, almost like a bird, and gun it down with extreme prejudice. Bolts of blue blaster cannon fire emerged from its two wingtip cannons, searing the small ship in half with a precise strike. The SABRE pilot grinned as he banked to join the ARC's pilot. Various bouts of radio chatter, from swearing to actual orders from flight leads bead off in his radio. The allied Republic Y-Wings had arrived. Hundreds of the bomber-classes fired their torpedo pairs at one of the biggest ships the pilot had seen so far. As the first few rockets impacted, beams bead off, explosions roared and the enemy shield flared hellish red, then died. The second salvo of torpedoes impacted the ship's thin, neck-like surface, breaking the front of the craft off from the rest. It split in half, then roared and exploded, which made the pilots cheer. A bigger craft blew up. Less fighters and lasers for them to worry about.

But the fight wasn't over just yet. More enemy craft streaked toward them, blue trails of energy sparkling in the darkness of space. The pilots went head-on, firing their 30-mils, plasma and rockets away at the targets, as the aliens fired back. Each shot of the UNSC's and Republic's hit true, shattering the fighter squadrons, but with heavy casualties. Half their effective was gone thanks to that head-on. He heard a round roar past them and saw one of the enemy cruisers blow up. MAC Cannon round.

Five quick UNSC Thanatos destroyers, lead by the Republic Arquitens cruiser _Vigilance,_ engaged in a knife-fight with the smaller enemy Corvettes and larger cruisers. Blaster cannons fired and destroyed a few fighters that streaked toward them. The Alien Corvettes' ventral plasma cannons heated, one turned broadside and opened fire. The _Vigilance's_ shields flared grey and collapsed as the second round impacted, the third hitting true in the bridge, shattering it and destroying the cruiser. The _Epoch_ UNSC Thanatos took the lead of the Arrowhead formation. Five of its side cannons roared and tore through the enemy Corvette's shields, destroying it, but soon, two larger cruisers appeared ahead of it, both alien in nature. The crew of the cruiser scrambled to stations again, but too little too late. Five laser lances gutted the craft, one destroying the bridge and cutting through to the other side, blasting the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight drive to pieces. The craft imploded, sending out debris flying all around, while also destroying another alien corvette.

Torpedoes streaked from the remaining destroyers, hitting the shields of the enemy ships. The explosions harmlessly dissipated off the round, blue shields. It was the aliens' turn now. Plasma torpedoes flew off from the front of the large ships, shattering two of the UNSC destroyers that were standing in their way, then lasers streaked from the side of the laser 'trinities' as they were called in the UNSC Fleet, and arched toward the last two destroyers, blasting them to pieces. It was a massacre. For every ONE alien battleship or carrier, TEN UNSC and Republic ships fell.

Aboard the bridge of the _New York,_ Cole overlooked the deaths of his thousands of men and women, clenching his fists and just waiting for the last line to be wiped out, so they could get to him. He was hating what was going on to his very soul, but his orders from HighCom were 'observe from a distance', not 'Jump in and save your men and women while probably killing yourself'... He resented ONI and High-Com for wanting to find more about these bastards, who were killing HIS people! A radar contact bleeped on-screen, the ID of the UNSC Prowler that had gone 'missing' around Hoth. It was only visible to the UNSC craft, since it was emitting a tightbeam signal to the _NY._ A message...

"Put the message on-screen! NOW!" Cole ordered.

"Sir!" Chorused the crew of the ship.

The message slowly decrypted and scrolled on-screen... Cole's mouth was agape at what he read.

 _'SIERRA-117' REPORTING. BLUE AND RED TEAMS ON-STATION_

 _DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ENGAGE UNKNOWN FLEET AT CLOSE RANGE, SIR. RED TEAM IS ABOARD CARRIER, SPATIAL COORDINATES (Coordinates Imprinted)_

 _DEPLOYMENT ORDERS FROM ONI NAVSPECWAR GROUP III._

 _SPARTAN BOOTS ON THE GROUND, ADMIRAL COLE. ADVISE LOCATION OF CURRENT UNSC/REPUBLIC FORCES._

Preston stood there, fists clenched, his mouth wide... Another line scrolled ahead of him, letters appearing from binary code.

 _ADMIRAL. ADVISE?_

"Give them the location of the Coalition squads, along with all Scans we've done of the area!" Cole ordered. _SPARTANS... Here? What were they doing in Republic Territory? Much more... What're they appearing now for?_ He thought, then shook his head and tossed those thoughts aside for later. He still had a fleet to lead, a battle to fight. He saw coordinates being transmitted to the Prowler, and their answer.

 _THANK YOU, SIR. SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE._

 _-FEED END-_

Cole returned to the battle at hand, slowly tracking its progress as he thought about this current predicament. The Ship's 'smart' AI, Athena, appeared next to him. She was wearing her ceremonial robes and laurel wreath. Her avatar was silver, with lines of code running across her body. Her hair was caught in a bun, in one hand she held her spear, and in the other she held her shield, her arrow quiver and bow behind her. Her robe was also covered by a golden breastplate, covering her down to her shoulders, while the rest was unarmored.

 _"There's an AI Construct on the Prowler, admiral. One We both know."_ She stated, grinning. _"They never leave home without her."_

"Huh... Wherever the Chief goes, that woman goes... Alright, Athena, I want continuous status updates. Get me a secure link with ONI."

 _"On it, sir."_ She stated, snapping a crisp salute. Her avatar flared orange as she heated her processors.

...

Aboard the ONI Prolwer _Dusk,_ en route to their post-orbit drop point, the elite human supersoldiers known as the SPARTAN-IIs, sat in the small craft's bridge, preparing themselves for a hot insertion. Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 walked through, his green MJOLNIR MK-V armor shining in the dim light. Beside him, walked Spartan-458, Nicole. A lone wolf Spartan. Her Mk-VI armor was painted Black, her weapon was slung on her back, a modified MA5C Special Operations Rifle. Ahead of the pair, sat the pilots. Kelly-087 and Fred-104, Chief's loyal team-mates, and behind them at the gunnery and stealth station, sat Linda-058. Her scout armor was painted in the winter colors of the planet below.

"Report." Chief ordered, his voice blaring through the speakers. Kelly turned toward him and nodded, her EVA Helmet shining his tall image back to him.

"We're closing in to the Jump Point, Chief." She stated. "Just a few hundred meters lower."

"Remind me again..." Nicole asked, crossing her arms. "The Hell are we jumping for, Chief?"

"Fast insertion and maintaining EVAC if need be." Chief answered, cocking his MA5B. Nicole nodded. Kelly, Fred and Linda stood up and went to them. Fred made the finger-over-visor Spartan Smile sign, to which the Chief nodded. The squad strapped their weapons and in-atmosphere jump packs then walked toward the cargo bay door of the Prowler, to which the Chief looked to one of the COM terminals. There was a moment of silence, and a dim blue light flickered on, to show an odd 'Smart' AI, by the name of Cortana. Though still in her infancy, this AI has helped the Chief and his Spartan crew through the fighting. Chief nodded to the AI, who was smiling, then pulled her chip out of the data port and slammed it into the back of his helmet as the Cargo door opened.

"On your mark, Chief!" Kelly yelled, cocking her shotgun. John nodded, then the squad dashed off the deck and dove. The UNSC Prowler powered away and the Spartans readied their lander packs. On Chief's hud, flashed a height counter, and alerts blared...

Plasma shots exploded around them, along with trails of pink and blue and green. It looked as if their new foe spotted them. John's HUD lit up again and showed where they were landing... Right in the middle of all the enemy soldiers.

"Alter course by 5 meters, Left!" He barked, then pulled out his Assault Rifle. The Squad's Packs roared and pushed them left. On Chief's hud, the trajectory had been corrected. They were about to land on the Diode Landing Pad. A shot streaked past Nicole, too close for comfort, and the girl swore behind her breath and snapped her Sparrowhawk rocket launcher off her back. She dove closer between Chief and Kelly and nodded toward both of them. The girl powered away.

"Prepare for touch down! 3..." Chief counted, cocking his assault rifle...

"2!"

All packs powered down... Godspeed.

"1!"

 **To be continued.**


	4. Chapter 4:SPARTAN Boots

Chief shook in his armor as the shudder of his boots impacting the hard Titanium-A Landing Pad of the Diode station sent a shock and dented the metal. He took a crouched position as his comrades landed beside him, of which Nicole first, then Kelly, Linda and Fred. They stood up and moved ahead to the single door on that entire pad that lead to the insides of Diode. A keypad lock awaited them at the door, to which Fred immediately snapped to action with his advanced hacking protocol. Chief snapped his head to Linda, who was in position on the catwalk, right beside Nicole, her SRS-95 steadied on a pair of rocks.

"Fred, status?" Demanded the Chief, looking toward his friend. Fred nodded.

"Done." The Spartan stated as the door hissed and slid open. The group of Spartans walked in slowly, Chief and Kelly last. As they walked inside, they found tight corridors, large enough for a single Spartan to pass through at a time, forcing them to go in a column and Ice across all walls. The place was pitch black, so the Spartans lit up their helmet lights. Nicole took a right, splitting up from the rest of the squad, with Kelly close behind. Right now, splitting up seemed like a good idea, rather than waiting in a line to be surprised by a machinegun or something in the corridor. Chief snapped his rifle and scanned across the tight corridor, then walked toward what seemed to be a door, a holographic orange lock waiting on it. He placed his hand upon the Lock and it flashed blue, then began rotating.

" _This'll only take a second, Chief."_ Cortana reported. The Spartan nodded in approval, then took cover by the side of the door, joined by Kelly, her Shotgun in hand. The two nodded, then looked at Linda reloading her blaster pistol, not the common UNSC M6 Magnum any soldier would carry, no. She received that pistol from the Clones. Her SRS-95 was slung behind her back and she was checking the ammo count on the pistol. She looked to Chief, then nodded and turned her eyes back to aiming down the hallway. The door's lock bleeped and it slid apart with a quiet hum, then a matte-black pistol appeared out of the darkness, the hand holding it painted white, with a blue stripe running across its outside, to which Kelly and the Chief snapped their weapons to the person's head. It was Rex, who sighed in relief, lowering his pistol.

"Considering the weight of you, Spartans, I thought you were those triple-jointed leg freaks with split mandibles and energy swords when you were thundering around out here." The Clone stated, then nodded. "C'mon in."

Kelly, Linda and Fred went in, then Chief tapped his com for Nicole, who appeared ahead of him, probably grinning behind her helmet as she whispered the Spartan All Clear. " _Olly Olly Oxen Free_." and walked in. John was last as Cortana's calm voice returned into his helmet.

" _Nearly got Linda's head blown off... Forgot about that handshake. Sorry."_ Cortana whispered, to which the Chief sighed and nodded. He slid his rifle to his hip, muzzle pointed at the floor and safety on, as he walked inside. A huge cavernous hangar built into the mountain awaited him as he walked inside. The place was a hangar which could fit hundreds up on hundreds of UNSC MAKO drones and maybe fifteen Pelicans. The base was made for Research, so a hangar large enough to house a Consular-class vessel for Refits and Repairs was normal for when the Researchers and crew wanted to transition from the station.

Now, however, the place was used as a Triage center. Hundreds of UNSC and Clone soldiers lay on makeshift beds and the like. In what seemed to be opaque protective plastic covers behind the triage and medical centers was a 'room' full of body bags. Their casualties. Dozens of them. What in hell could've hit this place so hard? The Chief had fought aliens before, but the IIs had been in service since a good 5 years ago. First the Human-Turian War, then when the Confederate Separatists were dealt with they were active and now, then the last two years of the Turian-Human War, now this. The 16-year-old Spartan-IIs weren't expecting another alien threat so soon, but then again, they were made for sudden strikes.

Chief, however, did manage to remember the first anti-alien war he and his squad served in. The Human-Turian war, now nicknamed the Shanxi Skirmish. They were very young at the time and barely got sent in in time to do anything, but whatever they did was real damage. Chief very distinctly remembered the split-mandible face of shock on a Turian admiral as Blue jumped off when the massive ship detonated. Now, now was different however. A whole new Alien force, unknown to anyone. It was going to be hell trying to repeat that feat with them, a gut feeling of John's. He stepped to Anderson, who stood up and saluted, then shook the Chief's hand.

"Good to see you again, Chief." Anderson said, looking about at the wounded. "Not the prettiest sight... We got our asses handed to us on the ground, and I hear Cole and Keyes aren't doing much better up there either..."

"Indeed." John said, looking at Anderson. "We barely landed here without nearly getting blown out of the sky by their weapons."

"Yeah... There's a lot of them... What the hell could they want... Much more, why shoot at us?" Anderson asked, sighing deeply. Chief shook his head.

"Chief." Kelly said, signaling John to join her. The Spartan walked toward Kelly, who had taken her helmet off, revealing her crew-cut Raven hair, blue eyes and pale skin. Her lips were matte-black, but a smile had snuck onto them. She lifted the body of a UNSC Marine, a very young soldier. The girl's hair was silver-red, with emerald irises on her eyes. Her armor was Jet grey with golden accents. It was angled so that the usual UNSC Bullet, even Armor-Piercing, would merely bounce off upon making contact. Her helmet had a T-shaped jet-metal black visor and beside her was a set of blaster weapons. One of the few Mandalorians that agreed to serve with the UNSC. Crystalline, lilac-colored shards were embedded in her belly, the least defended spot of her armor, also where biofoam had been pumped into, to seal the wound.

"Name and rank in the UNSC Armed forces, please?" Asked Kelly, locking gazes with the wounded girl. She nodded, then coughed blood to the side and looked back to Kelly.

"Lieutenant Ariah Koris..." The woman said, choked-out words. "Third Cuy'val Daar Regiment... Mandalorian Volunteer forces..."

"Mando, huh?" Smirked Kelly, sighing. "Hold on, Lieutenant. We'll get ya patched up and right back into the fight."

"Doubtful..." The woman said, then smiled. "At least I died a proper death... Fighting my enemy..."

"You mandos really have a death wish, don't you?" Kelly sighed. "Rest for now, Lieutenant." She stated, tapping the girl twice on the shoulder than standing up. She placed her EVA Helmet back on her head, grabbed her shotgun, then nodded to the chief and walked off. John pulled his TEAMBIO up and sat down on one of the munitions crates scattered throughout the area. Everyone shone green. Nicole took a step toward the chief and removed her helmet, revealing lilac, short hair and blue eyes alongside pale skin and different other features to clarify who she was without a helmet.

"Chief?" She inquired. He stood up and nodded. The two stepped off toward the main elevator. As they stepped into the crowded place. It was tight, a fit for five-six people, but still a tight one for the Spartans in their two-tonne Mark-V Armors. The girl smirked and whispered. "Snug enough?" The Chief scoffed, then looked toward the door. The elevator kept on decending and decending for a few floors, until it stopped out right on the floor they needed. One not quite shown on the floor buttons, surprising too... Fifteen floors below. The door slid apart, revealing black glass walls around. Chief tilted his head forward and Nicole nodded, sliding her helmet back on her head, then exited the elevator, snapping her M6 Magnum up. Chief followed suit, his Assault Rifle aimed front.

Nicole whistled the six-note Oly Oly Oxenfree tune they used so much as children. Ahead, the reflective glass bent inward, then whispered and split apart, revealing a bright light wave. She looked to the chief, nodded and the two walked in, lowering their weapons at the sight of someone they thankfully knew. A woman with antique sight-aiding glasses was examining a datapad in front of them. Her hair was matte-black, dirtied and long and she wore a parka. The woman turned toward them, then nodded and slid the tablet back in her pocket.

"Doctor Halsey?" Chief inquired. The woman nodded.

"Yes, Spartans... Good to see you, John, Nicole." She stated, then examined John. "Charred armor, marks and scratches... I'd say you met our 'guests' outside?"

Nicole nodded "Aye." She slid her pistol on her hip, then took her helmet off. "Nasty bunch of aliens..."

"Agreed..." Halsey said, then turned to a computer. "The rest of Blue Team is here, I suppose..."

"Aye." John said, walking up to the doctor. "What are you doing down here, doctor?"

"I was asked by the Republic to... 'verify'... A piece of technology believed to be the Forerunners'... It wasn't even close... It's earlier than them... Far more... Sophisticated."

"Prothean, then." Cortana mused from the Chief's helmet.

"Precisely. Good to hear your voice, Cortana." The woman answered, picking up several datapads that had hieroglyphics streaming across their screens, then threw them in a duffel bag, alongside several hand-written files and her Journal, a quaint little old book, and closed the zipper of the bag. "Chief, hand me Cortana for a moment, then follow me. Keep your weapons prepared."

The trio marched down the corridor, to the sight of closed Blast Shields on the windows and several bouts of other technology laying about, of which an AI, a purple Avatar, shone on a holoprojector. Halsey nodded to the AI, then yanked it too and slung the chip in her pocket, next to the tablet and turned to the Blast Shield controls. She tapped five commands and they things slid apart, revealing a strange structure in the middle of a large circular holding dome. It was shining bright green and had several lines running across it. A Prothean Archive tower. Halsey walked down to the Archive and slid Cortana's chip into a Terminal next to it, then tapped commands to start Data Transfer. She looked to Nicole.

"Spartan. In the back of this room, there should be a HAVOK tactical nuclear device... I want you to be near it in case these... New Contacts, breach through our defenses..." The room shuddered above them, dust falling from the ceiling onto Halsey's head.

"Bombardment..." Chief muttered. "They've started to move."

"Sounds like Plasma to me, Chief." Nicole said. "Where'd you say that Nuke was?"

"Back side of the room. You should see the Warhead."

"Aye." Nicole said, then ran off toward the Corridor where the Nuke resided. The Chief readied his Assault Rifle as more detonations sounded off above them. Halsey shuddered and nearly fell, but supported herself on a railing. She grabbed the final bit of Data from the download, then yanked the Chip and handed it to John, who looked at her, surprised. She nodded and clutched it in his hand. "We're pulling out now, John..."

Chief nodded. "Understood." He looked to Nicole. "Status on the HAVOK?"

"She's primed chief... Just gotta hit the Timer." Nicole nodded, then stood up with her Assault Rifle, shouldering it, and the Detonator strapped to her belt. Another detonation, this one closer. Chief could hear voices on the other side. Rumbles, like animals. He checked his Ammo counter. Full. He inspected the magazine himself, then slammed it back in and cocked the bolt forward. Halsey nodded, grabbed everything else she had in her bags, then a pistol and loaded it, cocking the charging handle of the weapon back like it was natural to her. "Ready..." She whispered. Ahead, the main door started creaking. It banged once as the two Spartans took positions and Halsey hid behind them, backpack ready.

Another bang...


End file.
